Voters asked to support Hotel/Motel Tax increase

City Council
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     Residents of Monticello will be asked to support a measure on the November ballot to increase the city’s Hotel/Motel Tax from 5 percent to 7 percent. However, the tax increase will not impact city residents, but visitors to Monticello hotels.

     During the Aug. 6 city council meeting, the council approved a resolution asking the County Auditor to place the issue on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

     City Administrator Doug Herman shared that the shareholders of Boulders Inn & Suites, the new hotel in Monticello, had no objection to the tax increase.

     “I spoke with the current owners of Boulders Hotel and they support the proposed increase,” said Herman.

     The increase would apply to those who stay at the hotel, and go right back to the city.

     “This was actually discussed before the hotel went up,” said Herman. “Most of the tax comes from non-residents.”

     The majority of Hotel/Motel Tax rates throughout the State of Iowa are at 7 percent. Only a few remain lower, at 6, 5 and 4 percent.

     The city’s revenues at 5 percent for calendar year 2018 total $17,467.75: first quarter at $6,437.15, second quarter at $4,060.50, third quarter at $2,770.10, and fourth quarter at $4,200.

     If the rate had been 7 percent for 2018, the total Hotel/Motel Tax would have been $24,454.85.

     “While we anticipate a continued increase in occupancy rates,” said Herman, “at current rates, an increase would have generated an additional tax in the amount of $7,000.”

     Per state law, 50 percent of all Hotel/Motel Tax collected by the city or county must go toward tourism-related projects.

     Aside from the public measure, a seat on the Monticello City Council, which was filled by appointment of Gary “Butch” Pratt, will now go before the voters on the November ballot.

     Interested candidates for the council seat are required to file nomination papers (a petition and affidavit of candidacy) in the Auditor’s Office at the courthouse no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29. The petitions must be signed by at least 25 eligible electros of the City of Monticello. Nomination papers are available from the City Clerk’s Office, County Auditor’s Office, or the Auditor’s general election website (www.jonescountyiowa.org/2018-general-election).

 

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